The book works on the mistakes of the Conservative government and there are some good points to debate here but it’s all a little one way and predictable. I was disappointed.

I thought How Not To Be Wrong was excellent. I don’t listen to James O’Brien but I enjoyed his previous book, How To Be Right very much and tried this on the strength of it. It’s a very different book, but just as good and just as important. There's no point in having a mind if you're not going to change it," LBC broadcaster James O'Brien says at the very end of this excellent rumination on how to examine what we think and shift it when necessary. Hear hear. James Edward O'Brien (born 1972) [1] is a British radio presenter, podcaster, author, and former tabloid journalist and television presenter. Since 2004, he has been a presenter for talk station LBC, [2] on weekdays between 10 am and 1 pm, hosting a phone-in discussion of current affairs, views and real-life experiences. Between October 2017 and November 2018, he hosted a weekly interview series with JOE titled Unfiltered with James O'Brien. He has occasionally presented BBC's Newsnight. The same with trans issues, which I think he makes honest and important points, that from the perspective of someone outside the direct issue, there is honest confusion which needs to be allowed to be expressed and questions asked before any possibility of understanding and acceptance can happen.In 2008, O’Brien voted for Boris Johnson to become the Conservative mayor of London. “I just wasn’t paying attention,” he admits. He liked the proposal of an amnesty for illegal immigrants. “Ken Livingstone seemed to be going a little bit off the deep end, and Johnson seemed to be an affable, bouncy character.”

Given the endless crises and scandals that have occurred over the past half-decade or so, it’s easy to forget some of the squalid behaviour that went on. How They Broke Britain, then, feels like a useful document to have – O’Brien’s scathing voice provides a thorough record of the self-serving actions and pronouncements of those who have held power in Britain. The more comprehension there is, ideally, the less incoherent anger there will be’ … O’Brien at LBC. In 2023, O'Brien's fourth book How They Broke Britain was published by Penguin Books. In the book, he "reveals the shady network of influence that has created a broken Britain of strikes, shortages and scandals". Each chapter focuses on each "particular person complicit in the downfall", such as former Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, News Corporation founder Rupert Murdoch, former UKIP leader Nigel Farage and former UK prime ministers, David Cameron, Boris Johnson and Liz Truss. [13] Broadcasting [ edit ]

Yeah, no, of course it is,” he says. “I just thought somehow we might talk about how brilliant my book is for an hour.” Another impish smile. “Are you not interested in the thinktank stuff? I thought Guardian readers might want to know a bit more about that …” It strikes an opening chord with me when I realise it’s our passivity that has allowed us to get here. We stopped noticing it, we just kind of accepted the incompetence. Further still, If you read the book, you can see he is dressing himself up as a changed man, compassionate and appreciative of the poor and being a good father figure to his daughter, as well as never forgetting or disrespecting his parents in his perfect family entity. It is all so contrived and I don't believe a bit of it. It is almost bizarre when he describes himself as a war like alpha male and suggests he had to change to be the compassionate person he is – again he is trying to dress himself up – parading to the crowd*AGAIN* – it is PATHETIC. But as you move through the chapters, and you reflect on this cache of incompetents and fantasists it makes you feel angry. I get the fact that not everyone is made to be a fantastic leader but we should never accept liars and ‘faux patriotism’.

Adams, Tim (8 January 2017). "James O'Brien: 'On radio, people still talk like no one is listening' ". The Observer. ISSN 0029-7712 . Retrieved 29 January 2019. As a keen enjoyer of James O’Brien’s previous book ‘How To Be Right’, it was unlikely that outside of a shift in personality for either of us, I would find this book anything short of interesting. The fact that it challenged me and the way I have gone about certain interactions in my professional and personal life was a troublesome, but ultimately excellent bonus.O'Brien is married to Lucy McDonald and has two daughters. [17] Politically, O'Brien prefers to be described as ' liberal' rather than 'left-wing'. [43] O'Brien was raised in the Roman Catholic faith and refers to himself as a Christian. He is a Kidderminster Harriers F.C. fan. [44] Books [ edit ] I've enjoyed listening toJames O'Brien on the radio, regularly dismantling other people's opinions on a wide variety of subjects. Many of his viewpoints I agree with: the one's I don't I have sometimes found myself shouting frustratedly at the radio. Either way, it's entertaining. Perhaps surprisingly for someone who enjoys a bit of a row, O’Brien appears a little irked by my questions, even if therapy has taught him to be calmer in response. “If you’d asked me unfair questions 10 years ago, I would have responded to you in a much more aggressive fashion,” he says.

Our economy has tanked, our freedoms are shrinking, and social divisions are growing. Our politicians seem most interested in their own careers, and much of the media only make things worse. We are living in a country almost unrecognisable from the one that existed a decade ago. But whose fault is it really? Who broke Britain and how did they do it?O'Brien made national headlines in April 2009 when footballer Frank Lampard phoned his show to object to tabloid stories about his private life and O'Brien's discussion of them. Lampard's former fiancée, Elen Rivas, had alleged that Frank Lampard had turned their home into a bachelor pad while she and Lampard's children were living in a rented flat. Lampard phoned in, objecting to the assertion that he was "weak" and "scum" and said that he had fought "tooth and nail" to keep his family together. [18] Public comments on Lampard's reaction praised Lampard's "brave" and "articulate" handling of the situation. [18] The exchange later earned O'Brien, who defended his conduct in an equally heated exchange with Kay Burley on Sky News, a Bronze Award in the Best Interview category of the 2010 Sony Radio Academy Awards. [19] Everyone here is “awful” or “stupid”. Jeremy Corbyn is “pitiful”, Liz Truss merely “over-promoted”. Intriguingly, he seems almost fond of Dominic Cummings. “He’s clearly mad as a box of frogs, but I think he is driven by demons rather than defined by them.”